A project helping nomads and villagers preserve their coastal grasslands in India has seen the University of Greenwich shortlisted for a national award.

Environmental scientists, led by Dr Debbie Bartlett, Principal Lecturer in Environmental Conservation, are in line to win the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) 2017 Knowledge Sharing award.

The CIEEM award winners will be announced on Wednesday 21 June, at Draper’s Hall, London.

Dr Bartlett, of the Faculty of Engineering & Science, says: “We have been working with people living in this area of Kachchh, Gujarat, and representatives of the Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, for some time researching the importance of this distinctive landscape.

“Our aim is to develop knowledge and shared understandings with local people about how their ecosystems can be protected within planning and development programmes.

“It is an honour to have our work recognised within the 2017 CIEEM awards – not least for the seven students who have joined me on three trips to India to research these ecosystems and their importance to the nomads and villagers who live there.”

Dr Bartlett’s work in Kachchh has been funded by the British Council UK-India Education and Research Initiative.

Dr Bartlett is no stranger at the CIEEM awards presentations. She led the University of Greenwich team which won the 2014 Corporate Achievement Award for Biodiversity Management Planning across its campuses.

She also established the first CIEEM accredited postgraduate degree in Environmental Conservation in the UK at the University of Greenwich.

The university has just launched a free online taster course about Environmental Conservation for everyone keen to find out more about the subject. Go to https://explore.gre.ac.uk/ for further information.

Submitted by Delphine Houlton